About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

A very curious Macallan Tasting in Tel Aviv – and the Macallan Sherry Oak 12 and Fine Oak 12 Going Head to Head

We’ve all been to countless whisky tastings, and they’re mostly good, some because of the presentation, and some despite it. But Macallan’s ambassador to the Middle East, Patsy Christie, together with Shachaf Koren of Israel’s Edrington Group’s importer Akkerman, had a whole new experience in store for a group of 14 of Israel’s whisky aficionados.

We came to the Bayern, a fabulous Bavarian style Restaurant and Beer Garden in Tel Aviv, and were led up to the gallery, where we were blindfolded and seated at a table, where our hands were were guided to seven Glencairn glasses laid out in front of us. The instructions were as simple as they were intriguing: Find the three whiskys you like best, and tell us when you’re done. What’s more intriguing was the fact that not all the whiskys we were served were Macallans, or even Edrington group products. What an unconventional move!! Kudos to Macallan and Akkerman!

The BLIND TastingPhoto Credit: Shai Gilboa

In the seven glasses were six single malts (wait, six?? Yup, one whisky was found in two glasses…how sneaky is THAT?). Four of them were Macallan’s whisky, and two not. Patsy said upfront that none were peated.
So what did we drink?

Macallan Sherry Oak 12

Macallan Fine Oak 12 (in two glasses)

Macallan Select Oak

Macallan Gold

Yamazaki 12

Glenrothes Select Reserve

Unveiling the ContendersPhoto Credit: Shai Gilboa

My own top three were the Yamazaki 12, The Macallan Fine Oak 12 and the Macallan Select Oak. But more important than the results or the tasting notes is the method: 14 people who understand whisky get totally blind tastings. NOBODY picked up on the fact that two glasses hold the same whisky, and there is a wide variance in the choices of preferred whisky, and all six whiskys were chosen in at least one taster’s top 3.

But Patsy wasn’t done for the night, and out of her magic box she pulled a small bottle, announcing that she’s holding the holy grail in her hand. It turns out that after quite a few years in which she’s been trying to get her hands on some E-150a, she actually got some, and we got to see both its effect in a glass of water, and more importantly, got to sniff it. I will tell you this: IT IS NOT ODORLESS. In fact, it has a distinct smoky/burnt wood smell. It makes quite a mess, so I didn’t taste it, but there’s no way that it has no effect on the whisky it goes into.

Macallan 12 – Sherry Oak (40% ABV, NCF, NC)

Palate: Raisins, sherry sweetness, light bitter oaky notes, spices – very light pepper and allspice with light notes of clove and nutmeg and hints of dried apricots. The whisky is full bodied.

Linger: Light spice in the back of the throat, cherry like sweetness on the tongue and some dryness/tangyness on the inside of the cheeks.

Photo Credit: Macallan.com

Macallan Fine Oak 12 (40% ABV, NCF, NC)

Appearance: Light gold, slow forming and legs.

Nose: Vanilla and lemon are very dominant. The aromas are strong and pronounced. Under the vanilla and lemon is a less powerful layer of sherry with raisins and spices and oak wood.

Palate: Strong and present, spicy and very creamy, almost even oily. Flavors of lemon, pepper, vanilla and bitter citrus with very slight hints of sherry sweetness, never fully realized on the palate.

Linger: Medium and sweet(ish) at the back of the throat with storng peppery spice. Lemon, yellow raisins, wood and vanilla flavors with obvious influence from both bourbon and sherry casks.

Conclusion

I’ll start with the picture of the night:

Shhhhhh…..Photo Credit: Shai Gilboa

This is the first time I’m having both drams side by side, and if you haven’t done that yet, you should. There is a Macallan aromatic character to both of them that is in the DNA of the whisky (which I can’t describe other than calling it “the Macallan aroma”, which would be quite unhelpful in tasting notes), and it’s stronger than the specific cask profile in which each was matured. Nevertheless, the Fine Oak pulls toward the spicy and bitter whereas the Sherry Oak takes the spirit to a sweeter and more subtle direction. Sort of like the nerd and the cool kid in middle school 🙂

Several people deserve a hearty thank you for this evening: Patsy Christie and Shachaf Koren of Macallan and Akkerman for a most memorable event, Ofer Ben Or – proprietor of the Bayern and a serious whisky maven – for hosting us so lavishly and Shai Gilboa – photographer and whisky connoisseur – for the pictures.